HomeIn DepthIn Yemen, a civilian is killed every three hours, according to Oxfam

In Yemen, a civilian is killed every three hours, according to Oxfam

27 October 2018

In Yemen, a civilian is killed every three hours, Oxfam said on Friday, calling on the United States, Britain and European states to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which has been operating in the country since 2015 at the head of a military coalition.

“One civilian has been killed every three hours in fighting in Yemen since early August and many others are dying of disease and hunger,” the NGO said in a statement.

Saying that it is based on information collected by the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project, linked to the UN Global Protection Cluster network, Oxfam points out that 575 civilians, including 136 children, were killed between 1 August and 15 October.

“Oxfam calls on Britain, the United States and other governments to suspend arms sales to Saudis because of their disregard for civilian lives in the war in Yemen,” according to the NGO’s statement.

Saudi Arabia has been active for three years in Yemen leading a military coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, to support government forces against Iran-supported Houthi rebels.

According to the UN, the conflict killed some 10,000 people – human rights NGOs estimating that the toll would be five times higher – most of them civilians, and caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the UN.

In this poor country on the Arabian Peninsula, where 75% of the population depends on humanitarian aid, 14 million civilians are threatened by famine, according to the United Nations.

Following the scandal caused by the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, killed on 2 October at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, calls to suspend arms sales to Riyadh have been made by humanitarian organisations and human rights NGOs.